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T-Thugs Ballot for 2017 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 11, 2017, 2:50 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Generally, I go through each week and try to determine who has the best resume so far. Due to this, my ballot is often one of the more controversial polls early in the season when some teams haven't played any marquee matchups yet. It tends to become more in line with the rest of the polls as the season goes on and we learn more about each team. 

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide I'm staying with Alabama's win over FSU as being the best of the year so far. Oklahoma is close behind them, though. I'd have given the nod to Oklahoma if OSU didn't struggle so much with Indiana.
2 Oklahoma Sooners A win at Ohio State is super impressive. You could argue its the best win of the year so far. I'm giving it second, and so I'm putting the Sooners here. 
3 Clemson Tigers The defending champs took down Auburn this week after crushing a bad team last week. The Auburn win jumps them way up my rankings to number 3. Without Francois, the Tigers seem like the heavy favorite to win the ACC.
4 USC Trojans USC rebounded this week from a disappointing showing against Western Michigan and put a pretty good beating on what I thought was a good Stanford team. 
5 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia went on the road and won at Notre Dame. Solid win. Im angry about it, though. Georgia looks like the team to beat in the SEC East.
6 Maryland Terrapins I definitely don't think Maryland is the 6th best team in the country, but their win at Texas remains one of the best wins there are currently. Texas won their second game 56-0. 
7 Virginia Tech Hokies Virginia Tech just beat Delaware this week (nothing special), but their win over West Virginia keeps them here.
8 Michigan Wolverines I actually don't think this team is that good, but they've played Florida and Cincinnati and are 2-0. That schedule so far is better than most teams, so I have to rank them here.
9 South Carolina Gamecocks South Carolina got a second win over a p5 opponent. Both their opponents won their other games, too. Wins over NC State and Missouri. I don't think either of those teams are great, but outside of the few teams with legit great wins, those stack up well.
10 Penn State Nittany Lions Another dominant showing for Penn State, although I don't think Pittsburgh is very good. We won't really see what Penn State is made of until they play Michigan 10/21.
11 TCU Horned Frogs Won on the road at Arkansas this week. Arkansas rolled a nobody last week, but I'm counting it as a road win against a 1-0 P5 team, which compares pretty well so far.
12 Tennessee Volunteers Playing Indiana state is super lame, but their win over Georgia Tech still holds them here.
13 UCLA Bruins UCLA crushed Hawaii this week and their win over Texas AM stays a decent win, as Texas A&M won this week. 
14 Louisville Cardinals Louisville beat UNC in week 2. This win would have counted for more to me if they hadn't also been defeated by Cal. Purdue looks like a better win than I thought, though after they whooped up on Ohio.
15 LSU Tigers LSU crushed BYU, who played a tough game against Utah. They have a game against Mississippi State this week.
16 Oregon Ducks Their defense probably isn't very good, but they put up 42 points on Nebraska. 
17 Duke Blue Devils Got a win over Northwestern. I don't think this team is better than some of the teams below, but I can't have them below teams like Oklahoma State when OKST hasn't played a real opponent yet. 
18 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa squeaked out a win against Iowa State. 
19 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Got a win over Boston College this week, their first loss of the season. I suspect BC will get smashed by Notre Dame next week, though and then this win won't really mean anything for Wake.
20 Washington Huskies Looked impressive against Montana, but that's Montana. Their win over Rutgers doesn't look as good this week, so I've dropped them. They play CU in a couple weeks and that could bump them back up. 
21 Minnesota Golden Gophers 2-0 with a win over Oregon State.
22 Washington State Cougars Got a win over Boise State this week, which is one of the better non-p5 teams.
23 Oklahoma State Cowboys Looking really good against really bad teams.
24 Utah Utes Won their game on the road vs BYU.
25 Vanderbilt Commodores Looking good against nobodies. I was debating giving this spot to Ohio State, but I don't think beating Indiana and getting smoked at home really means you should be in. I think I will have the buckeyes back in this spot soon. 

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